Do you take your clothes off to sleep on a backpack hunt?

[spike camp]

Boxers, t shirt and clean socks
I Need clean feet every night.
I’m too claustrophobic to sleep with clothes.

 

[Gseith]

I will bring a extra set of merino base layers to change into to sleep. It’s a extra item but want to keep my sleeping area clean, so I keep the dirty clothes out.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I can't stand sleeping in any clothes, I remove everything and put on a loose pair of lightweight shorts to sleep in, or I have a pair of merino boxers that are way too big that work also. I feel like the sleeping bags and such are warmer without layers in between but it could just be in my head.

 

[rodney482]

Always sleep in clean base layers.
Cotton liner

 

[Buglebrush]

I like to let my clothes, including merino base layers, air out overnight. The only additional clothes I take on an extended backpack hunt is a pair of socks and a pair of merino underwear. I will completely strip every night and rotate socks and underwear so that there's always a set of those airing out. If it's cold, I will wear puffy jacket and pants, gloves, and beanie over my freshly put on underwear and socks. If it's only two nights I will not bring any extra socks or underwear and just sleep naked unless I need the socks for warmth.

 

[guylaga]

Strip down to my base layers, usually a shirt and boxers or if it is very warm just boxers.

Colder conditions are with a puffy jacket added.

 

[RockAndSage]

OP, there will be differing opinions here, so try to focus on the why behind what people say they do. I've taught winter alpine survival and have slept in my share of snow caves, along with non-winter woods and high-desert stuff. Here's my what and why:

1) Never, ever wear exterior clothes into a sleeping bag - that's a great way to get ticks or poison oak into that bag, along with extra moisture.

2) Do not sleep in the clothes you intend to wear the next day - you sweat at night, and wearing lightly sweaty clothes is a sure way to catch a chill or worse when you step outside, and keep you colder throughout the day. This also unnecessarily burns energy by sapping body heat - the colder the temps the worse this effect is across the day. You want those clothes bone dry. Warm damp is not as warm as warm dry.

3) Especially in frigid temps, place your clean folded clothes for the next day in the bottom of the bag to warm them overnight, but not get them sweaty. You can fully dress inside your bag if determined (minus boots), exiting the bag in toasty warm, dry clothes.

4) It's okay to wear clothes to bed, but you must treat them as part of your sleep system - they need to air out during the day to dry. Your bag does too - including opening up your bag to air it out and dry it, hanging it on a line in the breeze if necessary. This is a bit of lost knowledge with modern bags, but was an absolute necessity in pre-synthetic fiber days, with cotton mummy bags filled with down. Frigid temps will still allow evaporation, especially in the sun. I've had old style bags like that be wet from snowcave melt, and be reasonably dry after a day hanging in the breeze under the sun.

 

[Blockcaver]

I'll sleep in my hunting clothes unless it is too warm. Sleeping in wet clothes is the only way to dry them out on some hunts, and as mentioned above its nice to be dressed to save time and avoid getting cold while dressing. In the event you have to deal with "stuff' at night....taking a leak to being bear bait, beingh dressed is a good thing. Super cold and all the puffy stuff stays on too..

 

[Dos Perros]

My dad would kill me if he knew what me and my gf did in his nice sleeping bag back in 2002.

 

[IdahoSwede]

This thread is exactly why I don’t want a used backcountry sleeping bag.

 

[doc holiday13]

depends on how cold it is. I use a 40* down bag. In 30* temps I'll wear baselayers, socks and hoodie or warm hat to bed

 

[bozeman]

I carry one extra pair of socks......sleep in base layers and Yes, I agree as others have stated.....makes you question buy a used sleeping bag.

 

[fuzzymarindave]

I use a lightweight bag liner on backcountry hunts to help keep my bag cleaner (at least in my mind). socks, usually no pants and long sleeve top as I often will sleep with arms outside bag if not really cold. Layer up if necessary outside of that.

Same here. I will try to put on clean socks every night before getting into the bag (liner).

 

[Carlin59]

I always sleep in whatever I was wearing setting up camp/making dinner/relaxing in. The added insulation of the bag is just enough to account for inactivity and temps dropping overnight. Might not be perfect, but appreciate being ready to roll in the morning.

 

[ElkArcher918]

Backpack hunting I'll a bring an extra pair of merino socks and briefs. I'll rotate and switch them out for sleeping. Never wear my most outer layer to sleep if I can help it. Rest of my gear list is somewhat on the minimalist and be mobile side.

 

[ColeyG]

OP, there will be differing opinions here, so try to focus on the why behind what people say they do. I've taught winter alpine survival and have slept in my share of snow caves, along with non-winter woods and high-desert stuff. Here's my what and why:

1) Never, ever wear exterior clothes into a sleeping bag - that's a great way to get ticks or poison oak into that bag, along with extra moisture.

2) Do not sleep in the clothes you intend to wear the next day - you sweat at night, and wearing lightly sweaty clothes is a sure way to catch a chill or worse when you step outside, and keep you colder throughout the day. This also unnecessarily burns energy by sapping body heat - the colder the temps the worse this effect is across the day. You want those clothes bone dry. Warm damp is not as warm as warm dry.

3) Especially in frigid temps, place your clean folded clothes for the next day in the bottom of the bag to warm them overnight, but not get them sweaty. You can fully dress inside your bag if determined (minus boots), exiting the bag in toasty warm, dry clothes.

4) It's okay to wear clothes to bed, but you must treat them as part of your sleep system - they need to air out during the day to dry. Your bag does too - including opening up your bag to air it out and dry it, hanging it on a line in the breeze if necessary. This is a bit of lost knowledge with modern bags, but was an absolute necessity in pre-synthetic fiber days, with cotton mummy bags filled with down. Frigid temps will still allow evaporation, especially in the sun. I've had old style bags like that be wet from snowcave melt, and be reasonably dry after a day hanging in the breeze under the sun.

Always avoid saying always and never say never!!

1) I pretty much always wear exterior clothes into my sleeping bag and have never suffered from any of these maladies?

2) If your clothes aren't dry in the morning, or very, very shortly after getting out of your fart sack, you are wearing the wrong clothes, sleeping in the wrong bag, or perhaps laying in a puddle.

3) The foot of your sleeping bag is the worst place to dry things out and the very best place to get them super stinky. Anything you want to dry that you aren't wearing should be placed on your chest. The heat generated by your core will move up and through the wet item carrying moisture with it and out of your bag.
If time and energy conservation are of concern, getting dressed inside your sleeping bag is a waste of time and energy, but great comic relief for anyone sharing your tent, as long as it's big enough for them to watch from afar without getting annoyed at your thrashing about. Have fun with that.

4) Again if your clothes aren't dry or very close to it when yo wake up, they should be shortly thereafter. If they aren't, you are wearing the wrong clothes.

The bit about taking advantage of opportunities to dry your bag out in the breeze and/or sun is good advice though. Additionally, UV kills bacteria so getting your bag, socks, and base layers some sun tanning time has more than one benefit. Most on backpack hunts won't be able to afford, nor should they need a whole day to accomplish this. An hour or two should be plenty if given that luxury of time.

 

[RockAndSage]

1) I pretty much always wear exterior clothes into my sleeping bag and have never suffered from any of these maladies?

Don't mistake luck for skill - or your exceptionalism as good advice. If you're getting into your bag wearing exterior clothes, then it's clear you haven't hunted or camped in the snow or mud, and have simply gotten lucky with ticks and poison oak, ivy, sumac, etc.

This is like saying you don't wash your hands after taking a dump or before eating, and "haven't had any problems". If it's true, then bless you. But your luck is not the basis of good instruction or practice.

2) If your clothes aren't dry in the morning, or very, very shortly after getting out of your fart sack, you are wearing the wrong clothes, sleeping in the wrong bag, or perhaps laying in a puddle.

Modern tech helps a great deal, and helps mask bad form. And bad ideas. There's a lower-temp threshold where doing this will lead to trouble. But sure, good gear and camping above that temp, you're not wrong.

3) The foot of your sleeping bag is the worst place to dry things out and the very best place to get them super stinky. Anything you want to dry that you aren't wearing should be placed on your chest. The heat generated by your core will move up and through the wet item carrying moisture with it and out of your bag.
If time and energy conservation are of concern, getting dressed inside your sleeping bag is a waste of time and energy, but great comic relief for anyone sharing your tent, as long as it's big enough for them to watch from afar without getting annoyed at your thrashing about. Have fun with that.

Read what I wrote above - it's for clean clothes, not wet ones, and it's to have them warm. Not get them sweaty on your chest from cuddling them all night.

Getting dressed in your bag is what you do below a certain temp, relative to your gear. Hot tent? Don't worry about it. But if you're in a hot tent, why the hell are you sleeping in your clothes to begin with, with rank feet so bad you don't want them near your clothes? If you're in a snow cave, or in -20F conditions without a stove with a wind-chill making it -40F, you're not going to be naked outside of that bag.

4) Again if your clothes aren't dry or very close to it when yo wake up, they should be shortly thereafter. If they aren't, you are wearing the wrong clothes.

Again, tech and luck don't change baseline survival knowledge. Don't wear wet or sweaty clothes in frigid temps. I can't believe I even have to spell that out.

 

[Blockcaver]

Directed at Rock and Sage: I totally disagree with you in the above post and am in ColeyG’s camp all the way. And I’ll put my 50 yr back country and bowhunting experience around North America way up there….from polar bears out on the ice for 11 days in February to lots of mountain hunts around BC, NWT and down in the CO…Arrowed all 29 species, 2/3 without guides.

But keep being you and we’ll keep doing what has worked well for us! And I’ll skip snow caves, don’t think many of us would build one on our hunts from the Arctic down to the Sonoran desert.

 

[GreyBeck]

I sleep armed. Stay away from my tent.

 

[hikenhunt]

My feet get SWEATY! So i usually sleep in a fresh pair of socks and save those for the hike out.